Obsidian's Fallout: New Vegas bonus denied by one Metacritic point

While some may write aggregate review site Metacritic off as a joke, at least the user review section, others take it very seriously.

Regardless of how you feel about the site, some take it very seriously. And in some cases, it could determine whether or not a developer receives a bonus. As is the case with Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian Entertainment who allegedly did not receive a bonus payment for its work on the game because it did not score a high enough Metacritic score.

Released in 2010 for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, Fallout: New Vegas garnered $300 million in sales and shipped 5 million units within a month of launch.

Unfortunately, none of that matters as Obsidian was told it would only receive a bonus payment from publisher Bethesda if the game received an 85 or higher combined review score on Metacritic.

Lead creative designer Chris Avellone tweeted, "Fallout: New Vegas was a straight payment, no royalties, only a bonus if we got an 85+ on Metacritic, which we didn't."

Personally, I don't think a reviewer's score should determine a bonus. Why not base it off sales rather than a few opinions?

Matt Liebl
You can follow Senior News Editor Matt Liebl on Twitter @Matt_GZ. He likes games, sports, musicals, and his adorable dog, Wrigley, and his wife.